Breath tester



Feb. 5, 1957 D E JR 2,780,220

BREATH TESTER Filed Nov. 25. 1955 INVENTOR.

:rr-rca M.DVER 3'2- ATTORN EYS United States Patent BREATH TESTER Otto M. Dyer, Jr., Detroit, Mich. Application November 25, 1955, Serial No. 548,945 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-2) This invention relates to a breath tester or detector, or more particularly reference to a device by means of which one can detect whether or not he or she, at the time the test is made, has an obnoxious breath.

One may have obnoxious breath, periodically, due to bacteriological conditions of the oral passage. Obviously, if this temporary, undesirable condition is realized, the individual can take necessary precautions to make the breath acceptable, by utilization of any of various mints, chewing gums, etc. compounded particularly for eliminating bad breath.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a device that will enable one to accurately test his or her own breath directly upon exhalation of the breath from the month, without interference with outside odors.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a breath tester formed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view; and

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing the device in use. 7

The device 10 constituting the present invention is inexpensively constructed from a single piece of molded plastic material, and in manufacture of the device, an odorless plastic or other suitable material could be utilized. The single piece is molded to include a bulbous, hollow body 12 of bowl shape having an opening 14 at its upper end surrounded by an inwardly directed flange 15 the top surface of which is beveled in a direction such that completely surrounding the opening 14, there is a slope upward from the edge of the opening. The slope is contoured to fit snugly against the bottom of the nose of a user, with the nostrils wholly in communication with the interior of the bowl 12 through the opening 14, and kept entirely out of communication with the surrounding atmosphere. In other words, the open upper end of the bowl is contoured to fit the lower end of the nose, and thus, has a generally triangular shape as shown in Figure 2, with the triangular path through which the edge of the opening 14 extends being rounded oif at its several corners to provide a rounded apex portion 18 and a base 20 of the triangle. The base portion 20 of the triangle, as shown in Figure l, is slightly bowed in an upward direction, following the contour of the nose at the base of the nostrils.

In communication with the front wall of bowl 12, at the lower end of the bowl, is an exhaust tube 22, integral with the bowl and inclined from the horizontal slightly, in a direction upwardly, outwardly from the bottom of the bowl. A hollow stem 24 is in communication with the bowl at the lower end of the bowl, at a location diametrically opposite the exhaust tube 22, and is in a substantially horizontal position, though inclined upwardly in a direction away from the bowl to a slight extent, slighter in fact than the inclination of the tube 22.

2,780,220 Patented Feb. 5, 1957 Stem 24 defines an inlet tube for the device, and is provided with a circumferential collar 26 adjacent its outer end, providing means facilitating clamping of the stem in the mouth between the upper and lower teeth 28.

The arrows in Figure 3 represent the direction of the flow of breath from the mouth through the device. In use, the user places the stem 24 in the mouth with the contoured, open upper end of bowl 12 held snugly against the underside of the nose in the manner previously referred to. The user then bites or grips the stem between the teeth slightly with the flange or collar 26 disposed in back of the teeth. Then, the lips are closed to seal the interior of the mouth against the admission of outside air. As a next step, the user exhales a short, soft breath,

preferably from the diaphragm. The exhaled breath passes through stem 24 into the bowl 12 and partially out of the exhaust passage 22. Some of the breath is caught in an eddy as shown by the arrows in the bowl, in Figure 3. The user then inhales shortly through the nose, and receives a flow of the breath in the nostrils, thus permitting detection of bad breath should such be present.

The device, as will be noted, is characterized by its particular shape, wherein a bowl has an open upper end contoured to fit snugly about the nostrils with the nostrils fully in communication with the interior of the bowl, the bowl being in communication at its base with oppositely, outwardly projecting, short stems one providing an intake and one an exhaust for the breath exhaled by the user. Of considerable importance is the fact that when the breath is exhaled into the device, it is channeled through the stem 24 along a gradually, downwardly curving slope 30 defined by the bottom of the stem 24 and continuing into the bottom of the bowl 12, with said slope merging into an upwardly curving slope 32 defined by the bottom of the exhaust tube 22. It is of considerable importance, in this regard, that the slope 30, where it merges into slope 32, also merges into an upwardly curving slope on the inner surface of the side wall of bowl 12, at a location diametrically opposite the stem 24. This slope, designated at 34, curves through slightly less than degrees, and causes the eddy previously described herein whereby the breath is brought directly up to the nostrils for inhalation through the nostrils.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A breath tester comprising a hollow bowl of bulbous shape having an opening in its upper end, said bowl having a surface surrounding said opening contoured to fit against the underside of a users nose with the nostrils in communication with the interior of the bowl through said opening; an intake tube projecting from said bowl communicating with the base of the bowl and adapted for extension into a users mouth; and an exhaust tube projecting from said bowl and in communication with the base of the bowl at a location diametrically opposite the intake tube, the inner surface of the side wall of the bowl, in a region substantially diametrically opposite the intake tube, being curved inwardly from the base to the upper end of the bowl with the cuwed surface merging into the bottom of the intake tube, whereby breath entering the bowl through the stern will be partially diverted to travel 3 up the curved surface of the bowl in an eddying current with the part of the breath not so diverted passing outwardly through the exhaust tube.

2. A breath tester comprising a hollow bowl of bulbous shape having an opening in its upper end and an inwardly directed flange surrounding said opening, said flange having an outer surface sloping upwardly from the edge of the opening, said flange and opening being of generally triangular shape with rounded corners so as to contour the flange to the underside of a users nose with the nostrils of the nose in communication with the interior of the bowl through said opening; an intake tube in communication with the base of the bowl adapted for extension into a users mouth and extending radially, outwardly from the bowlyand an exhaust tube also in communication with the interior ofthe bowl at the base thereof, at a location diametrically opposite the intake tube, the exhaust tube projecting radially, outwardly from the bowl, the inner surface of the intake tube having a gradually cuwing bottom portion containing without substantial interruption to its curvature into the bottom portion of the exhaust tube, the inner surface of the bowl being curved at a location diametrically opposite the intake tube through substantially 180 degrees, from the base to the upper end of the bowl with the curved surface of the bowl merging into the bottom portion of the intake tube, whereby to deflect at least part of the breath passing from the intake tube to the exhaust tube upwardly in a curving, eddying path for inhalation of the breath through the nostrils.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 177,393 Great Britain Mar. 30, 1922 

